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Physical Ethology Lab
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A lab that uses physics and mathematics to uncover the intelligence of slime molds and amoebae.
AboutAbout the lab
Animal behavior studies, deciphered through mathematics.
The Physical Ethology Lab studies the information-processing mechanisms of living things, mainly in single-celled organisms.
The lab confirms through experiments the high information-processing ability of organisms, and seeks to explain its mechanisms from the viewpoint of the laws of motion and dynamics of matter.
It has gradually become clear that even single-celled organisms without brains show a certain kind of decision-making when placed in complex situations.
Combining theory, experiments, and field observation, the lab draws on biology, mathematics, physics, and information science.
Key terms
- Ethology
- The study of animal behavior. A field that examines the behavior of living things to clarify its mechanisms and meaning.
- Protists
- Mainly single-celled organisms, such as amoebae, ciliates, and slime molds, that belong to none of the animals, plants, or fungi.
- Soft matter
- Soft materials that deform greatly, such as gels and polymers. Their properties are studied using physics.
NewsLab news
A paper on how the ciliate Stentor coeruleus chooses where to attach has been published in PNAS
A paper on the movement of the testate amoeba Arcella has been published in Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B
Assistant Professor Ohmura received the Young Investigator Invited Lecture Award of the Biophysical Society of Japan
Associate Professor Nishigami received the Japanese Society of Protistology Award
A doctoral student received the Best Presentation Award at the annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Protistology
ResearchResearch themes
Focusing on protists such as slime molds, amoebae, and ciliates, the lab studies the movement, deformation, and growth of cells and individual organisms from the perspective of mechanics. Using soft matter physics, which deals with soft materials that deform greatly, as a tool, it explores how the functional behavior of living systems arises.
View More ↗MembersFaculty
The members of the Physical Ethology Lab consist of faculty members, a secretary, postdoctoral researchers, and students.As of 2026
- ProfessorToshiyuki Nakagaki
- Associate ProfessorYukinori Nishigami
- Assistant ProfessorTakuya Ohmura
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Physarum polycephalum plasmodium” frankenstoen / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Molecular Biology Lab): “Reissetzlinge vor der Aussaat” Myrmux / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Wada Lab (Molecular Neuroethology)): “Zebra Finch, Sumba, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia 1” christoph_moning / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takeuchi Lab): “Lepidiolamprologus nkambae LoroParqueTenerife cichlidae from nkambae IMG 5391” Bjoertvedt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Soma Lab): “Java Sparrow. (Lonchura oryzivora), ( )” Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand / CC0 (cropped)
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